Childhood Obesity in the United States Background Childhood obesity is a serious U.S. public health problem. Today, nearly a third of youths are overweight or obese. That’s more than 23 million children and teenagers. 1, 2 The term “obese” describes children and adolescents who have a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for their gender and age, while “overweight” describes those with a BMI at or above the 85th but below the 95th percentile. Childhood obesity trends Causes Healthy People 2010 called for a reduction in the proportion Too many children have an “energy imbalance.” They’re taking of overweight and obese children and adolescents to 5%, in more calories than they burn. 13 Myriad factors may fuel but has failed to move toward this goal. 3 Since 1980, the this imbalance, such as: obesity rate has more than doubled (from 5.0% to 12.4%) • Overweight adolescents aged 12-17 years consume between among children aged 2-5 years, almost tripled (6.5% to 17%) 700 to 1,000 more calories per day than what’s needed for among children aged 6-11, and more than tripled (from 5.0% the growth, physical activity and body function of a healthy to 17.6%) in adolescents aged 12-19 years. 4 weight teen. Over the course of 10 years, this excess can pack on 57 unnecessary pounds. 13 Health consequences • Children and adolescents aged 8-18 years spend, on Preventing obesity during childhood is critical, because average, more than six hours per day watching television, habits formed during youth frequently carry into adulthood; playing video games and using other types of media. 14 an obese 4-year-old has a 20% chance of becoming obese • In 2001, 16% of school-aged children walked or biked to as an adult, and an obese teenager has up to an 80% school as compared to 42% in 1969. Distance, weather, chance of becoming an obese adult. 5 If this epidemic is not fear of crimes against children and inadequate walking reversed, we are in danger of raising the first generation of paths all contribute to this difference. 15 American children who will live sicker and die younger than • Only 2.1% of high schools, 7.9% of middle schools and 3.8% the generations before them. 6 of elementary schools provide daily physical education or its equivalent (225 minutes per week for middle and high • Overweight and obesity are associated with a 52% and schools and 150 minutes per week for elementary school). 16 60% increased risk, respectively, for new diagnoses of asthma among children and adolescents. 7 Racial/Ethnic disparities • Obese children are at a higher risk for psychosocial The prevalence of obesity is rising faster among blacks and problems, fatty liver, orthopedic-related problems and Hispanic children, according to an analysis of data from the sleep apnea. 8 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Over 10 years, obesity • Although traditionally viewed as an “adult” illness, the rise increased more than 120% among blacks and Hispanics in childhood overweight and obesity has corresponded while increasing by more than 50% in whites. 17 to an increasing proportion of youths with type 2 diabetes, particularly among adolescent minority populations. 9, 10 Data taken from NHANES 2003-2006 showed that: • Obese children and teens have been found to have risk • Non-Hispanic black and Mexican American girls were more factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), including high likely to have a high BMI for age than non-Hispanic white cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and abnormal girls. 2 Almost 28% of non-Hispanic black teenage girls glucose tolerance. 11 In a population-based sample of 5- to aged 12-19 and almost 20% of Mexican American teenage 17-year-olds, 7% of obese children had at least one CVD girls were at or above the 95th percentile of the 2000 risk factor while 39% had two or more CVD risk factors. 12 BMI-for-age growth charts compared with 14.5% of non-Hispanic white girls. 2 Childhood Obesity in the United States • Among boys, Mexican Americans were significantly more Economic toll likely to have high BMI for age than non-Hispanic white Childhood obesity alone is estimated to cost $14 billion boys. Non-Hispanic black boys, however, were only more annually in direct health expenses, and children covered likely than non-Hispanic white boys to have high BMI for by Medicaid are nearly six times more likely to be treated age at the highest BMI-for-age level (BMI for age ≥ 97th for a diagnosis of obesity than children covered by private 2 percentile). insurance. 19 Black and Hispanic children are significantly less likely than While there are many causes of school absenteeism, a white children to get involved in organized physical activity study analyzing the attendance patterns of fourth-, fifth- outside of school. Among children aged 9-13 years, 24.1% and sixth-graders in Philadelphia found obese children are of blacks and 25.9% of Hispanics are involved in organized absent significantly more than average-weight children. 20 physical activity outside of school compared with 46.6% Such absenteeism hurts students’ learning, causes parents 18 of whites. or guardians to miss work, and is costly to school systems. Among the study population, obese children missed an average of 12.2 days of school per year, while average-weight children missed 10.1 days, on average. 20 References 1) “Resident Population Projections by Sex and Age 2005 to 2050.” U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006. 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Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005. http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/Generation-M-Media-in-the-Lives-of-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf 15) KidsWalk-to-School: Then and Now – Barriers and Solutions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/then_and_now.htm 16) School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006: Overview. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/shpps/2006/factsheets/pdf/FS_Overview_SHPPS2006.pdf 17) Strauss RS and Pollack HA. “Epidemic increase in childhood overweight, 1986-1998.” Journal of the American Medical Association, 286(22):2845-2848, 2001. 18) Duke J, Huhman M and Heitzler C. “Physical activity levels among children aged 9-13 years – United States, 2002.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 52(33):785-788, 2003. 19) Childhood obesity: Costs, treatment patterns, disparities in care, and prevalent medical conditions. 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